My Afro Is a Rising Sun

Yaram Yahu is a native Chicagoan. He studied at Emerson College's writing, literature, and publishing program. At eleven, he wrote, illustrated, and published his first book, Heartland. Subsequently, he founded his self-publishing company, Rainbows Publishing Inc. His work includes publications in Solstice Literary Magazine, Finli, Timbooktu, Keystrokes: Volume III, and the national anthology The Stories They Tell! by The Young Voices Foundation. His features include The Wednesday Journal, Austin Weekly, Oak Leaves, Trapeze, and The Berkeley Beacon. Yahu also contributed as prose editor of Stork Magazine and copyeditor of Wilde Press Publishing House.

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, DeAnn Wiley has been a self-taught painter for five years. She began with traditional acrylic painting and just began her journey into the digital art world with a focus on children's illustrations. Her debut picture book, Sarah Rising, was published by Beaming Books in May 2022. She is an advocate for social justice, as she sits at the intersection of many identities: Black, woman, queer, and disabled. When she is not painting or illustrating, she is working on her final year of grad school for Counseling Psychology.